In my post on eggs being a powerhouse of nutrition, I mentioned that free range eggs (from a local farmer you trust) were by far the best eggs I have ever had. I wanted to center on that a little more.
Free Range chickens that have been allowed to eat their natural diet of worm, grubs, and other such chicken delights have a dramatically different egg. Look at the picture above. Even the color is dramatically different! The dark yolk is from a local farmer, who allows her chickens access to the her yard (and bugs). The lighter egg yolk is an “omega 3″ egg from the store (the “free range” eggs I buy there, have about the same color). This color difference would have been even more dramatic if I had used a normal egg from the grocery store!
You really can taste and see the difference.
Mother Earth News did a study comparing small farmer’s eggs with commercial eggs. They found that it affected everything from cholesterol amount, ratio of omega 3 to 6 fats, and vitamin content.
But, even beyond our health, I feel that it makes so much more sense to have chickens eat what we can’t ( and what is natural to them!), instead of feeding them so much grain that could be used to feed other people. Especially in light of the recent grain shortage, this makes the most sense for all animals. We could save so much grain if we simply allowed animals to eat what they were meant to eat. We would also have much healthier meat, eggs, and milk, if we did.
One last advantage for me is that while my eggs purchased from my local farmer are more expensive than bottom of the line eggs in the store, they are actually cheaper than many of the free range eggs at my local health food store. Better quality for a cheaper cost? I’ll take it!
I put my vote in for free range!
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Amen! We have had our own chickens for about a year and a half now. The few times we have had to resort to store bought eggs have shown dramaticly how much of a lesser product they are. Also, the whites are much runnier in storebought eggs, showing how old they are. Good post.
I’m totally with you! I LOVE our free range eggs…nothing beats them! I love that they are full of such wonderful nutrition…and I love that I can support our farming friends. And I love how PRETTY they are!
How weird! I was just (literally, 30 seconds ago) considering writing a post on my blog on this very topic. But then I saw your post. I’ll just have to refer my readers to your blog. Local, free range eggs really can’t be beat. The color, the flavor, the texture, the nutritional profile–everything’s better!
I agree! Store bought eggs, even one called ‘free range’ or cageless, are flavorless compared to farmer’s eggs. I’m still trying to figure out how to put a few chickens in my city backyard. Any ideas, anyone?
renee
I heard they put some chemicals in the feed to make the yolks look yellower. I buy from a neighbor when I can and he is cheaper. That goes for butcher too. This yr I talked hubby into getting chicks for the freezer. Not a profitable thing but better quality.
Hmmmm. I may have to think about doing that. I’ll have to research as I don’t know of any farmers in our area. If we weren’t gone so much it would be tempting to get our own chickens when our house is done.
I agree! I just found a local family that sells eggs and they are delicious. I showed my husband the difference between the color of the yolks from the store and the local ones. He couldn’t believe the difference. I hope my supply never runs out! If it does, I guess I’ll just have to buy some chickens of my own!
Go Free Range!! Our oldest son has 25 layers (not laying yet) for his egg business and we have 15 cornish cross chickens to be butchered this weekend. We have them in a movable, bottomless pen so they can eat new grass/bugs everyday.
If you guys ever make it down our way, we’d love to share a chicken with you!
We have our own chickens that free range, but they do have a feeder with organic feed in ti in the hen house. My kids will NOT eat a fried egg from a store bought egg! LOL So I tried it, and, YUCK! LOL It tastes really bad
The free range eggs are so much better. They just plain taste good! So, now I must decide if I am gonna give my chickens the natural cycle that God made and have a mult over the winter, or am I gonna put a light in the coop that they sleep in so they will WANT to keep producing? Anyone? 
Blessings!
Niki Lou
Niki Lou,
It’s hard to go back to store bought eggs after eating good eggs, for sure! That’s an interesting question. It does seem good to go with their natural cycle, but it would be sad to not have eggs for part of the year!
I have a question: I live in NYC and can only find pastured eggs at the Farmer’s market during the warmer times of year, and even then, they are not always available. Does anyone know where I can buy them year round or most of the year? Thanks!
well we just got our own chickens and I made a sponge cake it was really eggy so now im doing my school science fair project on free range eggs vs commercial eggs im going to need alot of research and this websites great! thanks!
I agree. I won’t eat eggs for a long time until we started to raise our own chickens, ducks and turkeys. I still don’t eat a lot of eggs but they work good for cooking/baking.
Love free-range eggs! I am raising my own chickens after wanting to tackle that project since I was 14 or 15 (now almost 23). My family and I live in a semi-rural neighborhood that allows any type of animal except swine. A neighbor owns about 25 chickens, and we’ve been buying eggs from her, and they are great!
I have Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Reds (15 in all), who are a little over 2 months old. After talking to another friend who does organic gardening and raises organic eggs (and also follows Sally Falon’s food method), she gave me her recipe for home made chicken feed (mostly made of soaked/sprouted wheat berries, black oil sunflower seeds, and corn, with other nutritional supplements like kelp powder and flax seeds).
They are also very low maintenance and not as much work as one would think. For those of you who live in a suburban/city area, I’ve heard of people getting just 2 or 3 chickens and a small backyard coop…so easy and fun!
Malori,
I would love to get that chicken feed recipe from you! Sounds great!
Hi, I wonder if any of the readers here have a full nutrition profile list of hen eggs?
I recently produced a fun, short and inspirational video for kids about raising hens. Its free, under video links on http://www.choosewiser.com. I like your blog article and am going to go post it on my Choose Wiser Fan page! Thank you!